Walt Morrison Named Executive Director of National Institute for Standards in Pharmacist Credentialing.Alexandria , VA -- Walter J. Morrison , Ph.D. , has been named executive director of the National Institute for Standards in Pharmacist Credentialing ( NISPC ).

Morrison , professor emeritus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences ( UAMS ) College of Pharmacy , will take over the management of NISPC operations , as well as the marketing of the NISPC credential throughout the United States.He will report directly to the NISPC Board of Directors , which is currently chaired by Calvin J. Anthony , executive vice president of the National Community Pharmacists Association ( NCPA ).

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Morrison is a member of the editorial board of Health Care Innovations and a former associate dean for administrative affairs , director of non-traditional programs , and professor of pharmacy administration at the UAMS College of Pharmacy.He has served as president of the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy and chairman of the board of directors of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association , as well as in leadership capacities for the Arkansas Family Planning Council , the Arkansas Emergency Medical Services Council , the Section of Teachers of Pharmacy Administration of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy , and the Arkansas Health Plan Development Committee.

I am honored and excited by this opportunity to work with those individuals and organizations that have had the vision to establish a process for pharmacists to secure a nationally recognized credential in the area of disease management services , said Morrison.Growing numbers of pharmacists throughout this nation are mastering disease management skills and offering these valuable services to both individuals and managed care organizations.

The NISPC credential will facilitate favorable managed care plan design and recognition of the professional services pharmacists provide , continued Morrison , because it assures payers that credentialed pharmacists possess the professional competencies required to provide these services.I am proud to have the opportunity to help the Institute advance the proposition that pharmacists can and do provide valuable disease management services that not only improve patients' lives , but also contain costs throughout the health care system..